Archdiocese looks into regionalizing schools

From the BCCT.

Archdiocese looks into regionalizing schools
By: JOAN HELLYER

Area pastors hope to voluntarily have a regionalization plan ready for the 2010-11 school year, officials said.

Local parish pastors are considering the creation of one or more regionalized Catholic grade schools in the next few years.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia asked Lower Bucks County parish pastors to voluntarily investigate possible regionalization, said the Rev. Timothy O'Sullivan, pastor of Immaculate Conception in Bristol Township.

The objective would be to ensure a Catholic education presence in the area while easing the increasing financial stress parishes are enduring to maintain their schools, he said.

As part of that investigation, archdiocese officials have asked the pastors to meet with parishioners to gather feedback. O'Sullivan plans to discuss the regionalization possibility with parishioners tonight during a town hall meeting.

"I'm hoping for a positive meeting with the parish to dispel rumors and to get a feel for what they would hope to see," O'Sullivan said.

Immaculate Conception is part of the archdiocese's Cluster 27. Other churches in the cluster also considering regionalization are St. Ann and St. Mark in Bristol, St. Joseph the Worker and St. Frances Cabrini in Falls, Queen of the Universe in Middletown and St. Michael the Archangel in Tullytown, officials said.

The archdiocese asked the pastors to examine the issue now as most area Catholic schools are experiencing declining enrollments.

Catholic schools with at least 225 students are able to operate with the parish subsidizing between 25 percent and 30 percent of their expenses, O'Sullivan said.

But once enrollment drops below 225, the burden becomes greater on the parish to maintain school operations, he said.

Immaculate Conception, for example, has an enrollment this school year of approximately 175, down about 30 students from four years ago.

The parish is subsidizing about 49 percent of the school's operations this year, O'Sullivan said.

Similar financial scenarios are playing out in other Catholic schools in Cluster 27 where enrollments are at about 170 students, officials said.

Pastors in those parishes also are gathering feedback from parishioners to determine if regionalization is a possibility.

At St. Mark's, for example, the Rev. Dennis Mooney plans to meet with the home and school association, parish council and finance committee.

And at St. Joseph the Worker, the Rev. Donald Birch said parishioners already have indicated to him that they would be interested in somehow regionalizing Catholic schools to preserve their school's presence.

Although the archdiocese did not ask for a mandatory regionalization, pastors of Cluster 27 are aiming to enact some sort of plan by the 2010-11 school year, O'Sullivan said.

The local pastors will meet with archdiocese officials in February to discuss the feedback they've gathered from parishioners and decide where they go from there, he said.

If you go: The town hall meeting at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Bristol Township begins at 7 p.m. It is open to all parishioners, church officials said. Call 215-946-1638 for more information.